Controversies surrounding Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi and non-government organisations (NGOs) are well-known.
Be it the issues of Gujarat riots, SIT calling Modi for his point of view or the state government’s claims over high growth rate, Modi’s relationship with NGOs has been quite bitter.
Modi on Saturday sparked off yet another controversy by proposing that a system should be put in place to ensure transparency and accountability of NGOs. In his key note address at the BJP national convention on Good Governance near Mumbai, he referred to the accountability of non-state sectors, such as NGOs and voluntary agencies and activists. “This is a grey area. They are said to be watchdogs. But, who will watch the watchdogs?” he asked.
The conclave, which is a brainchild of BJP President Nitin Gadkari, was attended by the chief ministers and deputy chief ministers of BJP-ruled states and select party office bearers. Chhatisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh could not make it to the conclave, as he had lost his father on Friday.
The media, which was allowed to attend the speech delivered by the BJP president, was later asked to leave the meeting venue before Modi delivered his speech. However, BJP later distributed copies of Modi’s written speech to the media. Despite repeated attempts, Modi declined to speak to the newsmen.
Modi made a strong pitch for a special system to be put in place to ensure transparency and accountability of the NGOs. Besides, the Gujarat chief minister emphasised, once again the accountability of the private institutions in the larger context of environmental protection and welfare of the communities were real challenges. The obvious reference was to how his government had to strive to complete Narmada irrigation projects following a series of agitations by the social groups like the Namada Bacaho Andolan.
Modi, in his speech, did not spare the media either. He said the media played an important role in ensuring good governance, as it was willing to expose the failures. But, he also gave a bit of advice to the media that it should also highlight the successful initiatives for others to learn lessons and to encourage those who innovate and perform well, amid several constraints.
On the issue of tackling corruption, Modi admitted that the Right to Information Act was one of the important initiatives undertaken to reduce corruption. However, he said the Act was more often used by middlemen to harass administration rather than by the genuine and the needy.
“The challenge is to provide empowerment without making the system weak? My emphasis is more on procedures that can even make RTI Act redundant,” he noted. Modi cautioned that there was a danger of litigation, court stay orders and vested interests delaying the decisions and thwarting the process of governance. He, therefore, proposed a concept of openness in governance.
